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Unlabelled: Digestive diseases in Peru account for the second cause of mortality and malignant tumors of the digestive tract rank the third place. It was therefore proposed to study the mortality rates for each digestive and hepatobiliary disease and establish their frequency and geographical distribution in Peru., Materials and Methods: Diagnostic information was obtained from death certificates in the Information Technology and Statistics Office of the Ministry of Health (MINSA) from 1995 to 2000. Mortality rates were determined for 100,000 inhabitants. The rates obtained were classified in general figures for each year, dividing the data in three groups: non-tumoral digestive diseases (esophageal and gastrointestinal, gall bladder and pancreas diseases) tumoral diseases (esophageal and gastrointestinal, pancreas, gall bladder and biliary tract, liver and intrahepatic biliary tract diseases) and liver diseases (liver cirrhosis, primary liver malignant tumors and acute viral hepatitis). The first five mortality causes were determined for each year for the national population, classifying them according to the disease types and heir geographical distribution by Department., Results: The first five causes for each year are liver cirrhosis (mortality rate: 6.53 - 10.64), malignant stomach tumors (mortality rate: 8.7 - 10.36), liver and biliary tract malignant tumors (mortality rate: 2.19 - 3.96), malignant colon tumor (2.03 - 2.06), gall bladder malignant tumors (1.66 - 1.7), pancreatic tumors (1.60 - 1.75), and gastric ulcer (1.27). Amongst tumoral diseases, gastric cancer has the highest mortality rate and pancreatic tumors are within the top five causes of death. Amongst liver diseases, liver cirrhosis has the highest mortality rate, which correlates with the high prevalence of viral hepatitis B in certain areas of Peru., Conclusion: Amongst digestive diseases, the main causes of death in Peru are liver cirrhosis, malignant stomach tumors, liver metastases, gall bladder and pancreas and colon malignant tumors. Thus, it is necessary to corroborate these findings with epidemiological studies.

Several studies have demonstrated either a direct or an indirect relationship between alcoholism and death causes. The present paper is a descriptive study about death causes in 428 alcoholic patients from San José, Costa Rica, metropolitan area, whose death occurred between 1978 and 1988. Sample subjects were males, under 90-year-old at death time. It was found out that basic death causes were: Traumatism and poisoning, 25%; circulatory system illnesses, 20%; digestive system illnesses, 18.5%, and tumors, 15%.

In a 5-bed Critical Care Surgery Unit (UQCC) where surgeons are in charge of care, 126 patients admitted over 5 consecutive months were divided into 4 groups according to the treatment given: Group I (n = 49): elective gastrointestinal surgery; Group II (n = 52): emergency gastrointestinal surgery; Group III (n = 15): non-gastrointestinal surgery; Group IV (n = 10): medical treatment. The mean stay of all patients in the Surgical Critical Care Unit was 6 +/- 7.7 days and the global mortality was 7.9% (n = 10). The mean age of the patients who died was 71.5 +/- 7.3 years and 70% of the deaths corresponded to Group II. Forty percent of the patients who died had systemic candidiasis. Among the factors implicated in the mortality acute gastrointestinal pathology per se, the coexistence of chronic systemic disease and advanced age were prominent. We discuss the need for typifying the role of Surgical Critical Care Units in General and Gastrointestinal Surgery.